Champions Until the End

Chapter Fourteen

And here you are, Chapter Fourteen. Hope you enjoy!

        "Woah, Duchess, stop it, please! Give me a break! You'll get a chance to run soon, I promise! Duchess, calm down. It's okay, we're going to the track now." I said, trying to soothe the hyper horse. Mike had announced that we were heading down to a dirt track that was around a mile long, so that we could get the horses all galloping and help to build up their stamina.

        "All right, if everyone will please take a lap around at a trot and canter, we'll gallop them afterwards. Take your time right now." Mike instructed. Everyone obediently cued their horses to trot, beginning to lap the track. As soon as I allowed Duchess to trot, she tried to leap forward into a canter. Struggling to hold her back, I continually half-halted her until she stopped acting up.

        "There we go, Duchess. Just one lap then you'll get to run, don't worry." I said, and I ended up talking softly to the cremello the entire lap. Once Duchess had done three-quarters of the lap at a trot, I let her ease carefully up into a collected canter. Once she was cantering smoothly, I marveled once more about how amazing her gaits were. As she cantered down the homestretch, I let her extend her stride ever so slightly, and then pulled her up to a trot, then a walk, and returned to where Mike and some of the other riders were waiting. While Isabelle and Rachel were finishing up, I adjusted my stirrups to a shorter length, so that I could rise up in the saddle more easily.

        Once everyone was ready, we all lined up at the start/finish line, waiting for Mike to start us off. Parker was on my right, and Finnick was the second person to my left. Isabelle was in between, and I could see her sly grin when she caught my eye. What is she planning? I thought, suddenly worried. Duchess, sensing my hesitation, shifted nervously underneath me, and at that moment, Mike started us. When Duchess attempted to leap forward into a gallop, Isabelle barged Lonru into her, causing Duchess to spook and run into Faith. Parker, taken by surprise, almost fell out of the saddle when the mare lurched underneath him. "Sorry!" I yelled to him as he got resettled and Duchess, now galloping strongly, swept past him.

        I could see Finnick in the lead on Nightshade, which was to be expected, after all, Nightshade was a Thoroughbred who was originally a racehorse, but later got sold off. In second was Paige and Daisy, who was surprisingly fast for being such a small pony. Third was Isabelle, who was followed by Rachel and Jocelyn, who were neck and neck for fourth. I was coming up on Charlie, who was in fifth, and I could hear Faith's hooves churning behind me. I didn't want to let Duchess go too fast yet, seeing that we were only just turning onto the backstretch. Three-quarters of a mile to go.

        Along the backstretch, Duchess increased her speed, and I tried to slow her down a bit, but she was getting excited and had the bit in her teeth. Basically, I was on a bolting horse, except she wasn't spooked. Duchess passed Ferni like he was standing still, and galloped hard into the turn, running as if her life depended on it as she started to catch Blackjack and Dawn. Around halfway into the turn, she passed the two from the outside, and that was when I realized just how fast she was.

        "Duchess, slow down a bit!" I yelled, but my words were lost in the wind. The mare, however, cranked the speed up a notch and as we turned into the homestretch, swept past Daisy and galloped on to attempt at Nightshade. This, I knew, was hopeless. There simply wasn't enough time for her to catch the stallion, even if she was fast enough. This, apparently, didn't matter to Duchess even if she realized it.

        I ended up getting second, because, just like I thought, Duchess didn't have time to catch Nightshade. Nightshade was faster, too, but he had been a racehorse for a while. This horse is seriously quick. I thought, approving of the Akhal-Teke at last. A piece of work, but talented. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. Well, I wouldn't have much of a choice if I wanted to do well on Saturday. Sky Full of Stars. A good registered name, too. It would be tricky, considering that I barely knew this horse and all, but I could make this work. Here we come, show circuit. I thought once more. But this time Kennedy Hawkings has got a brand-new horse to compete on.

Sorry it was so short! I finished this in a rush with no idea what to do, but I wanted to get one more chapter out before I couldn't update for a while. Jocelyn pictured up top. Live free and be happy.

Glorybringer1163